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The charity says families with children have been hit hardest with almost 2,000 parcels provided for children every day by food banks in its network 

New figures released today reveal more than 5,100 emergency food parcels were provided for people every day from April until September this year on average, by food banks in the Trussell Trust network. That’s at least three parcels given every minute and is an 11% increase compared to the same period in 2019, as need for emergency food remains well above pre-pandemic levels. 

Alarmingly, families with children have been hit the hardest, with food parcels for children increasing at double the rate for adults, compared to pre-pandemic levels. Between April and September 2021, almost 2,000 parcels were provided for children every day on average, compared to almost 1,700 in 2019.    

As more and more people across the country face destitution – meaning they are unable to afford the absolute essentials to eat, stay warm, dry and clean – the Trussell Trust warns need for emergency food is expected to rise further still, this winter and beyond. Food banks in the Trussell Trust network face giving out more than 7,000 food parcels every day in December. 

The charity says many families already at breaking point face the fallout of the £20 per week cut from Universal Credit payments that hit this autumn. This is on top of rising fuel costs during the coldest season, as well as soaring inflation.  

This is forcing many families deeper into poverty, the charity says, and is leaving people facing impossible decisions where their only option is to either skip meals to provide food for their children or heat their home. 

The Trussell Trust’s chief executive Emma Revie says we all need the security and stability of a lifeline to support us whenever we need it and is calling on the UK government to urgently strengthen the social security system. She is also urging the public to donate vital funds to help fight hunger this winter and support the Trussell Trust’s campaign for change to help end the need for food banks. 

Emma Revie, chief executive at the Trussell Trust, said:  

“Everyone in the UK should be able to afford the essentials – to buy their own food and heat their homes. Yet food banks in our network continue to see more and more people facing destitution with an increase in food parcels going to children. This is not right.  

“Our food bank managers expect need to grow further still, saying they will need to provide more than 7,000 food parcels a day during December, as many families are faced with an even tougher winter ahead. This must stop.  

“The answer must be for us to have the stability of a strong enough social security system to protect any one of us when we need it. We need government at all levels to take action and are asking the public to help fight hunger this winter and join the campaign to fight for a future without the need for food banks.” 

Join the Trussell Trust’s Winter Appeal now by donating vital funds to help us campaign for change so that no one needs a food bank in the future.: trusselltrust.org/impossible-decisions 

ENDS     

Notes to editors: 

Number of emergency food parcels distributed by food banks in the Trussell Trust network in the mid-year period of 2019 and 2021.   

1. In the mid-year period of 2021 (1st April – 30th September inclusive) these parcels were distributed by 1,468 distribution centres operating in 292 local authorities across the UK. 

1. Across this period in 2021 food banks in the Trussell Trust network distributed, on average, over three (3.55) parcels to people in crisis every minute. 

1. Food banks in the Trussell Trust’s network experienced unprecedented increases during 2020 as the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic drove people to food banks. This years figures are lower than those seen in the equivalent period in 2020 but remain higher than 2019 and 74% up on the same period in 2016.  

1. ‘Emergency food parcel’: this typically is a three-day parcel containing emergency food for one person. During the crisis food banks have also been distributing seven-day parcels. For this release the Trussell Trust have simply combined both three-day and seven-day parcels together to report the total number of emergency food parcels that were distributed.  

1. Need for emergency food is driven by a lack of income. The Trussell Trust’s State of Hunger research shows that 95% of people referred to food banks are destitute, meaning they don’t have enough income to buy the essentials that we all need. State of Hunger  

1. Figures from the Trussell Trust network cannot be used to fully explain the scale of food bank use across the UK. The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) has identified at least 1,124 independent food banks while there are also Salvation Army food banks as well as food banks run from schools and hospitals. There are also thousands of other food aid providers including soup kitchens and social supermarkets.  

Contact       

Contact the Trussell Trust for more information on 020 3137 3699 or [email protected]  

About the Trussell Trust:    

• We’re here to end the need for food banks in UK.     
• We support a UK-wide network of more than 1,300 food bank centres and together we provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.     
• Our most recent figures for the number of emergency food supplies provided by our network: https://www.trusselltrust.org/news-and-blog/latest-stats/     

Natasha Copus Southend Foodbank Project Manager

Southend Foodbank first opened its doors on 1 November 2013. As the food bank prepares for its eighth anniversary, we spoke to Natasha Copus who joined as Project Manager four years ago.  

The food bank has eight distribution centres and a warehouse serving the seaside community in Essex. Due to the pandemic, a couple of the sites have temporarily closed, but there is always one open from Monday to Saturday to welcome guests.  

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Garry Lemon, Director of Policy and Research at the Trussell Trust:

“Today the Chancellor has made a choice that is a far cry from his ‘age of optimism’, for people on the very lowest incomes. While we welcome the reduction in the taper rate which means some families can keep more of their earnings, this cannot make up for the £20 a week cut to Universal Credit. This is the largest cut to social security since the Second World War and is a devastating blow to millions of families across the UK already struggling to make ends meet. People are now facing impossible decisions, struggling to put food on the table or heat their homes.   

“A lower taper rate and higher minimum wage will not benefit the majority of people forced to food banks who are between jobs or cannot work due to disability or childcare.   

“No-one should have to turn to charity to afford the essentials needed to survive. If the Chancellor wants to ‘level up’ across the UK he must make good on his statement that ‘everyone should be able to afford the essentials.’ The answer must be to urgently invest in longer-term local welfare support and create a stronger social security system for everyone who needs it this winter and beyond.” 

By Miranda Beebe, Head of Volunteer Management 

Food banks are truly remarkable at connecting people with a passion to serve others – to come together and challenge injustice across the length and breadth of the UK. Every day in the network, we know thousands of volunteers turn up to stand alongside people experiencing crisis and show them solidarity and friendship.  

Today, we want to put the spotlight on Worcester Foodbank, who we noticed had logged 5,500 hours amongst 87 volunteers since February, when they first started using the volunteer management system, Assemble. In reality, the number is far higher as the 5,500 doesn’t account for additional hours for collections, deliveries and staying late after shifts. 

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By Sumi Rabindrakumar, Head of Policy & Research

Party conferences are usually full of slogans; at the Trussell Trust, we try to push political parties to put some meaning behind them. This year, at Labour and Conservative party conferences, we discussed how we can end the need for food banks, drawing on frontline experience from experts in our network, lessons from the pandemic, and insight across levels of government. After another record number of emergency food parcels provided across the UK (a shocking 2.5 million in our network), we urgently need action.  

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By Alex, who will be hit by the £20 cut to Universal Credit if the Government goes ahead with their plans 

The numbers around the impact of the planned cut to Universal Credit are, by now, more familiar; 1.2 million people could be forced to skip meals, 1.3 million people could struggle to heat their homes this winter and 900,000 people tell us they’re very likely not to have enough money to travel to work or make essential trips like medical appointments. But behind these stats are the people who live in our communities, who will feel the devastating impact of the cut. 

Alex and his wife applied for Universal Credit when his job came to a complete standstill during the pandemic and his wife’s mental health deteriorated. Since then, they have been struggling to stay afloat and have skipped meals to be able to feed their son. 

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By Sumi Rabindrakumar, Head of Policy and Research

Over a million people fear they will be forced to skip meals and switch off their heating this winter if the UK government goes ahead with its plan to cut Universal Credit payments by £20 a week next month. 

That’s one of the many alarming figures coming from the Trussell Trust’s new findings based on YouGov polling. These findings are the latest in escalating concerns from all quarters – MPs across the political parties, national governments across the UK, doctors, frontline workers, and – of course – Universal Credit claimants. Wave after wave of letters, research, and lived experience all point to the same conclusion: the cut to Universal Credit will be a devastating blow for the millions of households struggling to make ends meet. 

Today’s new data lays bare the full impact of the impending cut. Faced with a cut of £20 a week, 1.2 million people (20%) claiming Universal Credit say they will very likely need to skip meals and 1.3 million (21%) say they will very likely be unable to afford to heat their homes this winter. Nearly a million (900,000, 15%) say they are very likely to need to use a food bank as a result of the cut. 

These worries are being felt by people across the UK, in all nations, and all regions. If the UK government is serious about its intention that ‘as far as possible everyone everywhere feels the benefits’ of recovery, No. 10 and No. 11 Downing Street should be worried too. 

It is worrying that constituents in regions targeted for the government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda are especially likely to fear they will struggle to meet their basic needs. In the North East of England, for example, people are nearly twice as likely to fear they won’t be able to heat their homes this winter compared with the average UC claimant in the UK (30% vs. 21%). They are a third more likely than average to fear they will need to use a food bank (20% vs. 15%) and skip meals (28% vs 20%) if the cut goes ahead. 

It is worrying that a mere one in five people from today’s polling believe our social security system provides enough support to people with physical or mental health conditions, days after the government launches its health and disability green paper exploring “how the welfare system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions”. 

It is worrying that – as the government attempts to set out a jobs-led recovery – the cut will mostly affect working people, and today’s poll shows nearly a million (900,000, 15%) people say they are very likely to not have enough money to travel to work or essential appointments by public transport if the cut goes ahead. 

As the record numbers of emergency food parcels provided by food banks in the Trussell Trust network and beyond show, families across the UK are already caught in impossible situations. Today’s polling shows that over three-quarters (77%) of current Universal Credit claimants are struggling to keep up with bills and credit commitments. Well over a million have cut back on food for at least a day (1.9 million, 32%) and gone without basic toiletries (1.4 million, 23%) because they couldn’t afford them in the last 30 days. Imposing the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since World War II risks pulling families with precarious finances further under. 

This isn’t right – and it doesn’t have to be like this. We do not need to inflict immediate hardship on people already struggling to stay afloat. We do not need to push more families through the doors of food banks. If we are to ‘build back better’, we all need the security and stability of a strong lifeline – because, as the pandemic has shown, life is full of things for which we cannot plan.  

The UK public knows this – today’s findings show that, even including the undecided, a majority supports making the increase permanent. People are twice as likely to support keeping the increase than oppose it. It is clear: our social security system must at the very least provide people on low incomes with enough money to cover the essentials in life – like food and heating. The UK government must keep the lifeline this October. 

We are four weeks away from Universal Credit being cut – we need your help now. Email your MP to support the #KeepTheLifeline campaign, and ask them to tell the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to keep the £20 increase to Universal Credit and extend it to people receiving ‘legacy’ benefits.

By Rory Weal, Policy and Public Affairs Manager

September is here, and as the kids go back to school and MPs return from their summer recess, the government has a big decision hurtling down the tracks: will they stick to their guns and cut Universal Credit by £20 a week this October, or keep this vital lifeline and keep people afloat? 

Food banks across the Trussell Trust network know just how vital the extra £20 on Universal Credit has been. It could be the difference between people being able to get by or cut back on vital essentials, like food, clothing and heating. Removing it risks plunging tens of thousands into destitution. That’s why the Trussell Trust is supporting the Keep the Lifeline campaign, and asking you to write to your MP.  (more…)

By Emily Spoor, Research Officer

New figures out today show that almost one in three people whose only income was through social security had been to a food bank in the previous year – these figures more than highlight that now is not the time to cut £20 a week from their income.  

This new evidence, collected between November 2020 and January 2021, showed that one in 12 (7%) people aged 16 and over in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had used a food bank in the previous year – representing almost three and a half million people.  

This new data from the Food and You survey shows that far too many people are being let down by the benefit system. Our social security system should protect people from being pulled into poverty and be strong enough to pull people out – but in reality the benefit system forces too many to go without essentials such as food. 

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By Tom Weeks, Research Manager at the Trussell Trust

Today, as part of the State of Hunger blog series, we are exploring how issues with housing can drive people to food banks.

With over 95,000 households living in temporary accommodation at the end of March 2021, today’s English homelessness statistics highlight the scale of the housing emergency we are facing. Despite the eviction ban (in place until the end of May 2021), in the first three months of 2021 alone over 36,500 households presented to their local council and were found to be homeless.   (more…)